Carving a Course

Carving a Course. . , The large, granite building blocks of Shell Canyon are an extraordinary 2.5 billion years old. Called basement or bedrock, they form the bottom layer covering the molten material in the earth’s core., At some point, the huge plate of bedrock fractured – one side shifted up and the other dropped down in opposite directions, forming the first stage of the canyon. Stream water calls dramatic attention to the fault line – dropping sharply over the 75 foot ledge of Shell Falls. , The Granite of Shell Canyon. The colorful, coarse-grained rock of the canyon is formed by solidification of molten rock materials. The pink in the rock is feldspar minerals. The black coloration comes from biotite (iron rich mica), and the white is quartz; a hard, glassy mineral., Listen. Can you hear the thunder? Feel the power? The power comes from water – confined narrowly by rock and pulled strongly by gravity., The dynamic forces of water against rock move the mountain downstream one small piece at a time – exposing millions of years of geologic history.